Love and Tattoos
by Mr Nuked Duck
Summary: Beast boy loves his tattoo, but Raven doesn't seem to respond well to the green changeling's body-art. What is the cause of this and what will Beast boy do about it...?


**So this is my goodbye-gift to you guys. I might resume my fanfiction-writing in the future, but for now, this is goodbye. I hope you like it! You guys know the drill: BBxRae FTW! R&R! Blah, blah, blah- Praise God and enjoy!**

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Raven narrowed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, watching her boyfriend hum contently as he stood by the sink and washed the dishes by hand. He was wearing casual jeans and a black tank-top, displaying his bulked up body in a very attractive way. Raven herself sat huddled up in the couch by the dinner-table behind him, dressed in light-gray sweatpants and a dark-blue T-shirt. She had her legs pulled up and was hugging them close to her chest as she watched the changeling over her knees. Normally she would have secretly admired how his strong muscles pressed against the black cloth of the tank-top or how his arms moved with such manly sturdiness with every movement he made. But right now she wasn't admiring his arms, she was scowling at them. More specifically, she was scowling at his right arm.

The one with that infernal tattoo...!

It all started back when he was seventeen, before they started dating, when he suddenly decided that he wanted to have a tattoo on his right shoulder. Robin had been very reluctant to the idea, wanting to set an example and not considering a tattoo to be part of that, but after much, much, **much** nagging from the changeling he had finally given in. The green teen had started out by wearing a fake tattoo for two months, just to feel how it was and give him a chance to reconsider getting a permanent one.

He didn't reconsider.

The tattoo-design had been a black paw-mark surrounded by a medium-sized tribal tattoo that stretched down over the upper part of his biceps and a little bit over his shoulder. It hadn't been that much of a nuisance. After all, it would have been much worse if he had wanted a burning skull or something cliche like that.

Robin had still been a little skeptical about it, but he had to admit that the tattoo looked good. Cyborg had been in on it from the very beginning and welcomed the changeling´s skin-painting with great enthusiasm and acceptance. Starfire had been "most delighted to be able to witness such a fantastic form of body-art", as tattoos apparently weren't all that familiar on Tamaran. As for Raven, she also had to admit that the tattoo _did_ look good on him... but unfortunately it didn't stop there.

Soon the tattoo grew. The tribal´s snaking spikes and lines expanded and grew in numbers and size. Slowly... slowly... until the snaking, black patterns covered his entire right arm, as well as a good portion of his shoulder and it´s surroundings. At the front, the tattoo stopped where his shoulder ended and his armpit began, but on the back it stretched even further, all the way over his right scapular. And now he had finally completed the limb-infill with a calligraphy "G" on the back of his right hand.

The extreme body-art added to the sense of growth that the changeling had been radiating ever since he started building up muscles and grow taller, but for some reason it bothered Raven. Greatly. She somehow felt like he was growing further away from her as he matured and changed. He was no longer the scrawny little kid who used to look up at her with a fake-bitter pout whenever she made a sarcastic remark about how none of his constant courting did anything to affect her. Now he was a man with strong, attractive muscles and a height that surpassed her own by several inches, looking down on her with a confident smirk on his face, smiling at the knowledge of how much she melted just by his presence.

Raven loved him for who he was, no matter how much he changed his appearance, and she _did_ think he looked good with the tattoo, but she almost felt like every expand of the tattoo was another step on a path away from her. He was growing too fast and she was growing too slow. She didn't want to grow apart from Beast boy! She didn't want to be left behind! She didn't want to be inferior...!

_'Great...!'_ she thought to herself and buried her sad face in her knees. _'Jealous of a **tattoo**!'_

Throughout the years she had spent with the titans she had gradually learned to control her powers, growing more and more accustomed to showing feelings as well. Well, _feelings_, sure, but _this_?! This was just ridiculous!

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she felt a soft kiss being planted on her forehead. She looked up and was met by her boyfriend´s warm emerald eyes, looking at her with much love and affection.

''Everything okay, babe?'' he asked and smiled as he placed a hand on her cheek and caressed it softly. ''You seem a little distant.''

Raven opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find any words and shut it again, looking away from him and avoiding his caring gaze. The changeling tilted his head curiously at this and tried to look her in the eyes again, but she just kept avoiding him. When he noticed this he scoffed and sat down beside her, lifting the suddenly flustered girl up in his lap without much effort and wrapping his arms lovingly around her. He hugged her close to his chest and rested his chin on her head, rocking them in a melodic pace.

Raven couldn't do anything other than blush as she sat there wrapped in his arms, pressed against his muscular torso with his chin resting in her purple hairline. He would do this to her sometimes just to show her how much he cared about her and that he was there for her. The first time he had done this was not long before they had started dating. The empath had woken up from a bad nightmare screaming in fear and sweating bullets. He had instantly been there, practically ripping up the door to her room and rushing over to her bed, calming her in any possible way he could think of. He had ended up doing _this_ to her and they had both ended up falling asleep in that position. _Him_ with _her_ wrapped in his arms, huddled up against each other for the remainder of the night. Oh, how she loved being in his arms like this!

However, the peaceful atmosphere was quickly broken once the empath´s violet eyes fell on the arm wrapped around her, and she was reminded of her childish worries.

''Nice. Ain't it?'' she suddenly heard him say behind her. He sounded so happy, which only got on the empath´s nerves.

''If you love that tattoo so much, why don't you just dump me and get together with _it_ instead?!''

''Huh?!''

''I don't see my name in those spikes! It's good to know that you care about me so much!'' she spat sarcastically.

''...Huh?!''

''Just... forget it!'' the empath frowned and looked away.

Beast boy looked bewildered at his girlfriend. He hated seeing her upset like this and if he happened to be part of the problem it only made him feel worse.

''Raven...?'' the green boy asked and nudged her head with his own, making her blush unwillingly.

When she didn't answer, he began to frown and grabbed a hold of her arms. He pushed her off from his lap, placing her in front of him on the couch, forcing her body to face his.

''What's wrong?'' he demanded, a most serious expression being displayed on his face.

Raven gave him a bewildered look, surprised to suddenly see her boyfriend so serious. Then she started feeling guilty. He didn't deserve this! He never intended to hurt her when he got that tattoo. But it still ended up hurting her.

''Raven...'' the changeling cupped her chin in his hand and turned her head up so they were looking each other directly in the eyes. He couldn't stop himself from letting out a small laugh when he saw her adorable face. ''Raven... babe!'' he said softly and planted another kiss on her forehead. ''You're not inscribed on my skin... because you will always be inscribed in my heart.''

Raven could feel herself blush when she heard this. When his lips met her´s, she didn't resist. She welcomed the action and greedily soaked up all the affection that it brought. Why she had ever cared so much about that tattoo, she couldn't understand. They kept kissing until they were satisfied and slowly pulled apart, smiling at each other.

''...And that's the best frickin' mark I could ever get!''


End file.
